When should you use CMS?

Content management systems are great help for online marketing, especially if your website has hundreds of pages of content. But what if your website is just a few dozens of pages? Here’s a few questions you should ask yourself:

How much content do you actually have that needs to be managed?

How much time do you have to manage it?

How much of your budget do you want to invest in managing it?

If you are concerned about that last point there is good news for you. There are some content management systems out there that are completely free. WordPress, Joomla and Drupal are the best-known free systems. They are open source, which means that the software is both free and can be tweaked by you to meet your specific needs. It’s through this collaborative development that open-source software applications are improved for everyone involved.

One other important reason for using these open source CMS is availability of support and expertise. If you are looking for a WordPress developer there might be a few experts in a two-block radius.

If you think you need a CMS that’s a little more sophisticated (and expensive, as opposed to free), you can find those, too. The cost of the most basic CMS software starts at around $1,500 and increases to more than $7,000 for the initial license. More complex versions can cost as much as $500,000 for the initial licensing. Fees for additional licenses, extra features, or monthly maintenance fees may also apply.

Of course, price should not be the main reason you choose a content management system. Your CMS decisions should be based on your business needs, which obviously vary from one organization to another.